COVID Strikes More Than Half Of Howard County Detention Center Inmates

HOWARD COUNTY, MD —More than half of the inmates at the Howard County Detention Center in Jessup have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Jan. 3. The county health department reports that 126 of 235 inmates have tested positive and are being isolated and quarantined. Out of 131 staff members and nine contracted employees, 44 tested positive.

According to the county health department, the majority of inmates and staffers are asymptomatic or exhibiting only cold-like symptoms. Testing is carried out at the detention center every Tuesday and medical staff there are taking temperatures twice daily of those who have tested positive. The detention center is sprayed daily with a disinfectant, reports WMAR.